Dick Blume / The Post-StandardDr. Frank Vogel was sentenced to five years' probation with the first six months to be served in the Onondaga County Correctional Facility in Jamesville. He drove drunk and ran down a pedestrian.

Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse doctor offered no explanation or apology as he was sentenced today for driving drunk and running down a pedestrian along Onondaga Lake Parkway last summer.

Dr. Frank Vogel responded with a blunt, "No" when asked if he had anything to say.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Chris Bednarski said that seemed to be consistent with an apparent lack of contrition on the part of Vogel throughout the case.

Onondaga County Judge Anthony Aloi then went forward and sentenced Vogel to five years' probation with the first six months to be served in the Onondaga County Correctional Facility in Jamesville.

Vogel, 67, of Franklin Square, agreed to that penalty when he pleaded guilty last month to felony, first-degree vehicular assault.

In pleading guilty, he admitted he was driving with a blood-alcohol count of 0.18 or higher when his car struck and seriously injured Jason Farnham Aug. 21. Farnham, 32, was walking along the west side of Onondaga Lake Parkway near the CSX railroad bridge when he was run down by Vogel's southbound BMW.

"This is not a pleasant circumstance to begin the rest of your life. You have only yourself to blame," Aloi told Vogel.

The judge said that as a doctor Vogel should have been aware of the tragic consequences of drinking and driving and that he was lucky Farnham had not died.

His stopping at the scene and rendering medical attention to Farnham before emergency personnel arrived was perhaps the main reason Vogel was not going to state prison, Aloi said.

Defense lawyer Dana VanHee told the judge Vogel accepted responsibility. The defense lawyer took issue with a section of the probation department presentence report that appeared to indicate Vogel was blaming Farnham for the collision.

Regardless of whose fault it was, the "critical eye" is always going to land on the driver if he was driving drunk, Aloi said.

Vogel was taken into custody in the courtroom to begin serving the jail part of his sentence.

Outside court, Bednarski said Farnham is still recovering from injuries.

The prosecutor also said the fact Vogel was going to jail showed that anyone who drives drunk and injures or kills another person faces the prospect of jail.

"The fact he's a doctor, 67 years old, doesn;t mean he can drink and drive," the prosecutor said.